Daniel Weinberg

1996 - 2025

Daniel Gardner Weinberg died peacefully on the evening of Wednesday October 15, 2025 in his Oakland, CA apartment. He died from natural causes, just shy of his 29th birthday.
Daniel lived life fully, always ready to embark on an adventure, launch into a debate, or care for a friend. He was unafraid to love and laugh, and he made new families everywhere he went. He loved the outdoors but could happily spend a weekend curled up with a book or plotting a new Dungeons and Dragons campaign. He smoked brisket but also cooked for his vegan friends. He was a beloved son, brother, and friend.
Daniel was born October 19, 1996 in Austin, Texas. He attended Travis Heights Elementary School, Kealing Middle School, and the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, where he graduated as a Presidential Scholar. He earned a B.S. degree in Chemical Physics from Rice University in 2019, received his Ph.D. in Theoretical Chemistry from the University of California - Berkeley in 2023, and worked for two years as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Lawrence Berkeley National Labs. He was a Postdoc Unit Chair for Local 4811 of the United Auto Workers.
A scientist and mathematician from an early age, Daniel dreamed big. He collected seeds as a toddler, fell asleep manipulating numbers, and schemed about making lightsabers. In elementary school, he puzzled his teachers by developing his own algorithm for subtraction. By high school, he was studying differential equations and number theory. At Rice, he explored the photocatalytic properties of nanoparticles; at Berkeley he investigated the optical and electronic properties of nanomaterials; and at the Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, he worked as a computational chemist, studying new materials for renewable energy and building supercomputing tools. He contributed to seventeen scholarly articles and presentations, and his colleagues and teachers continue to build on the ideas that he left behind. He elevated everyone around him with his commitments to rigorous science and to building a more inclusive and equitable academic community.
Daniel was deeply involved in politics and fought for social justice. The eight weeks he spent in the highlands of Peru with Amigos de las Americas in the summer of 2013 taught him much about global inequities. As a graduate student, he played pivotal roles in the campaign to unionize the student researchers at the University of California and the 2022 Fair UC Now strike. He once said proudly, "What Robert Oppenheimer started, we finished." As a Postdoc, Daniel led organizing efforts at the Lawrence Berkeley National Labs. He helped enforce the rights of his co-workers and fought to protect funding for research and higher education on campus and in Sacramento.
Daniel loved hiking, climbing, skiing, and baseball; he dreamed of building a sailboat. He was a 4-year varsity baseball player and team co-captain at LASA-LBJ, known for his wicked slider and an intensity that could turn an infield dribble into a triple. With family and friends, he hiked in California, Colorado, Texas, Wyoming, and the Pacific Northwest. In the summer of 2024, he completed the John Muir Trail, hiking from Yosemite Valley to Mount Whitney.
Daniel is survived by his parents Martha Newman and Andrew Weinberg, his brother Matthew, his grandmother Janet Weinberg, and his uncles, aunts, and cousins. He is remembered by his many friends from London to California. Some have known him since birth and others for a shorter time. We all miss him. A memorial will be held at a later date, and there will be plans to honor Daniel by supporting causes close to his heart.